S&P Global

Four businesses unite as one financial powerhouse

Recognition for an industry stalwart

Despite owning Standard & Poor’s, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Index, and Platts—some of the most iconic benchmarks and market intelligence brands in the world—McGraw Hill Financial (MHFI) was commonly perceived as a textbook publisher. With a clearly established business strategy, we helped MHFI define its true value and claim its unique position in the market. As S&P Global, the brand tells a new story and opens an auspicious chapter in its impressive history.

There’s intelligence—and then there’s essential intelligence

Benchmarks and essential intelligence form the backbone of the financial ecosystem, with credit ratings and indices constantly referenced to bring context and clarity to investment decisions. We focused the new brand on the pivotal role S&P Global plays as the common denominator in the world of finance, providing this essential intelligence to investors.

Setting the bar

The newly united brand relies on a strong visual language with a horizontal bar as its foundation. Words and graphics appear above the bar in a changing array of messages. But the bar and the brand supporting it remain constant—a visual metaphor illustrating S&P Global’s critical position underlying the world’s markets.

A voice to trust

How should the unified brand sound? In a field known for dull communications, we helped S&P Global stand out with a flexible set of writing tools for framing content across every division and channel. This vigorous, distinct verbal identity enables S&P Global’s voice to be recognized everywhere.

Strong brand, strong culture

Strong brands have strong cultures—made up of people who understand how their behavior shapes a brand and impacts customers. Launching S&P Global was not just an exercise in visual identity and marketing. It was also an opportunity to transform business culture, using brand workshops, new HR modules, and constantly evolving communications.

Everybody on board

Employee participation across every level was at the heart of the plan. We set up an interactive microsite to help staff engage with the brand, develop an internal rallying cry, and discuss what “essential” means to them. Employees created posters to show how they “set the bar” and took part in a live town hall experience.

Never-before-seen levels of engagement?

S&P Global saw them.

The bottom line

S&P Global is built on the strategy that financial decisions are only as good as the intelligence used to make them. The world has taken note.